Manchester High School - Somanhis Yearbook (Manchester, CT)

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26 SOMANHIS EVENTS man, an intimate friend of our conversant, may pass, however, and we sur- prise a bewitching smile on her face as she greets him over our shoulder. Then her face immediately becomes a model of conventional sobriety as she continues her conversation with us. Dr. Holmes W. Merton, the vocational analyst, has a theory about character study. He claims that there is a decided relations hip between the mental faculties and the regions of the face. His ability to analyze has been called intuition, but he himself says he has attained it through hours of hard study. He has done much analysis by means of photographs. For instance, he once took the pictures of fifty lawyers and studied them very carefully, There was not much resemblance in the faces at the first glance but a closer view showed a similarity in the size and contour of the features which in- dicate mental qualities necessary for this profession. Each one resembled the others in some minute detail as Dr. Merton’s study showed. This serves only to prove that our occupation and inner thoughts determine the lines and expressions of our faces. It is an established belief that a protruding upper lip shows extravagance and that high cheek bones denote caution. Nature decreed that the Indian should be a cautious but fearless warrior so she endowed him with prom- inent high cheek bones as our study of him has taught us. Although the Indian warrior is almost extinct, the high cheek bones are manifested in motormen who have been in that profession very long. Of course this must not be taken too literally, nor does one who becomes a motorman suddenly develop high cheek bones, but it is true that one who lacks high cheek bones seldom is successful in this profession. He lacks the caution necessary for the position. Have you ever studied the pictures of prominent baseball players and noticed their chins? They have, as a rule, broad, long chins. This indicates their knack of handling themselves in motion, their quick co-ordination of brains and muscles, and their ready apprehension. Their muscles are train- ed to respond instantly to their slightest thought. The broad, long chin also shows an ability to foresee what size curve will be described by the ball in motion, even before the ball leaves the hand. If thes e baseball play- ers care to be automobile drivers, they will surely make a success of it, because of this ability to think quickly: or they might become expert loco- motive engineers for the same reason. But the difference in feature is often due to heredity as well as to en- vironment. The type of human nose of persons living in warm climates is low and flat, with large, short passageways directly to the lungs, Such people have little need of great energy for their climate does not demand it. Therefore we may say, that a person having a low, flat nose is indolent. Persons living in a cold , dry climate, on the other hand, have noses that are high in the bridge, with thin nostrils, so that the air may be both warm- ed and moistened before reaching the lungs. Thus a large nose, high in the bridge is, an indication of energy and aggressiveness, for a cold climate demands energetic people. Character analysts have told us, however, that the face must be stu- died as a whole for any success. For example, a man may have a protrud- ing chin) which taken alone, means aggressiveness; but he may also have kind eyes which show his amiability. This may make him thought- ful of others, and, as he is unwilling to hurt his own popularity, he uncon- sciously does away with his aggressiveness. A man with a large nose which curves outward from his face may be said to have much native shrewdness, if this feature alone is taken into con- sideration. If this man also had zeal and a good education, he might become

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SOMANHIS EVENTS bo wt job which calls for his imagination, his loyalty, his sacrifice, and—in the dark- er hours—for all his faith. his in itself is a reward. Thomas Edison once said, “I keep on making inventions for two purposes: . To support myself and family; . To get money to make more inventions.” And when it is all over, a man may say, “I have made a success of life; my family has never wanted for a dollar and I can now leave them all comfortable.” But is he a real man? A person's chief interest should be in his fel- lowmen. It should be his greatest pleasure to do them service. When a man becomes truly interested in his life work, when he loses himself in any big cause, he finds his reward in the work, and, what is more, he finds himself a bigger man as the result of it. 1 2 Young men in planning their careers are sometimes so short sighted that they consider nothing but their own welfare. More experience would teach them that such a course is folly. The fundamental question there- fore is not “what can I get out of this work,” but rather “what can 1 put in- te ite When Andrew Carnegie was very young he had a vague dream of be- coming a steel magnate and of revolutionizing that industry. This was what he set out to accomplish. He had no money but he possessed two great assets in life—Itnergy and Faithfulness. During his early life we find him doing all sorts of menial work but doing it well. Finally the reward—not sought, but earned, came. Ina few years from this period he was the lead- ing steel magnate; what he had set out to do he had accomplished. Carnegie loved the thing he gave his life to because it was a man-sized job, and be- cause it called him, and having found it, he got his reward. Thus aman who has been successful in his life work will be developed physically, mentally, and spiritually, and the world will be better for his having lived in it. Stanley Clulow ‘22. THE FACE AND WHAT IT EXPRESSES It is a sad and gloomy day when we are obliged to elbow and jostle our way in the midst of a crowded thoroughfare, but there are a few humorous sidewalk observations which make amends for our trouble. Left-over remainders of expressions meant for someone else, hash, as it were, are especially humorous. Two men are approaching, exercising the muscles of their faces with much vigor. One might imagine they were discussing the last reports of the World Series with virulence more suita- ble for a bull-fight. As they brush by, the more wrathful of the two glances at you with a ferocious scowl which gives you the chilling sensation of a snowball aimed with such nicety as to lodge in the back of your neck. Perhaps you have also experienced that mixed expression that Con- vention seems to demand from un-introduced individuals. The passer-by in living up to mercenary [tiquette, succeeds in inspiring a steely glint in his eyes, while his unruly lips turn traitor and continue grinning at his companion. This has the effect of a dish of luscious strawberries and cream which you may gaze at but not touch. On the street we may meet an acquaintance with whom we wish to talk on business matters. Since we are not very well acquainted and our con- versation is wholly business-like, we are coolly polite to each other. A

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SOMANHLES EVENTS Z N a successful banker, but he may lack this necessary zeal and education and simply use his shrewdness in the manipulation of a little pop-corn stand that he pushes about the streets. It has been noted by critics that authors and poets in describing their characters bring out only single features to portray them to their readers. One poet has mentioned “a quiet forehead, serene with wisdom”; and an- other, “the smouldering eyes” of the heroine or her “shimmering hair.” Authors very seldom describe the mouth of a character, probably be- cause they have already narrated so much of what the lips say that they are afraid of becoming monotonous. The reason why these gifted men give so few details is because they are aware that everyone has his own ideals. Each one of us has tucked away in his mind a picture of just how a hero or heroine should look, and more details would disturb that picture and dis- appoint us. People often wonder about the difference between portraiture and pho- tography. Some prefer portraiture but do not know the cause of their preference. The reason is plain enough. An artist can put into his pictures all the varying expressions that cross the face and lighten the countenance. A photographer, on the other hand, is able to get only one expression in his picture. That is why very often we say that a photograph does not resemble someone because we are thinking of that person's face as its expression changes. Because of their lack of wordly knowledge, people were once the credu- lous victims of swindlers, fakers, fortune-tellers, montebanks, and others ex- perienced in the art of chicanery. Now, instead of going to a clairvoyant, a business man depends on his own knowledge based upon facts, to fore- cast the future. Manufacturing concerns today have employment bureaus on which they depend to employ the kind of men adapted to certain positions. Besides requiring the applicants to take examinations, the employment agents study their faces and decide for themselves their suitability. Furniture stores and similar companies require their employment agents to study character reading. Gradually the whole world is recognizing the value of character study. Estelle Keith ‘22. AMERICAN JOURNALISM: ITS HISTORY AND IMPORTANCE. The first real American newspaper came into existence on April 24, 1704, in a small New England book-shop in Boston, It was printed on a crude wooden press in the form of a half sheet of pot paper, and was called “The Boston-News-Letter.” The meagre news which it contained was a week late and of no special significance to the people about the community. It was nevertheless the beginning of one of the best and largest assets which any of our modern cities possesses. The monotonous work of type setting, inking by hand, and operating by muscle, caused the circulation of the papers to be limited. A circulation of five hundred papers was, at that time, thought to be exceedingly large. Poor postal service and miry roads, combined with the isolation of the communities, caused the extension of publications to be greatly retarded, un- til a later period when political, social, and traveling conditions were im- proved It would seem strange to us today if we should read a newspaper with no advertisements. The public today demands advertising in order that it